I'm well aware I haven't posted any wedding sets on here for a while now. So here we are! This is Emily and Anthonys day at Ringwood Hall in Sheffield/Chesterfield (somewhere up north :p). It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony, something we don't get to do here that often due to the unpredictable UK weather. But on this day the sun shined and the clouds kept at bay for just long enough for them to tie the knot. It was a brilliant day and I wish them all the luck in the future! Don't forget to visit and like the sites! www.briscoephotography.co.uk www.facebook.com/briscoephotography www.twitter.com/briscoe_photo

HD slideshows

I've recently posted a few HD slideshows up to Youtube and hwere they are! Make sure you crank it up to 720 and full screen ;)

 Emily and Anthony:

 

 Ian and Katy:

 

 James and Lilia

 

 Thanks for watching! Paul See more work at: www.briscoephotography.co.uk

The facebook at: www.facebook.com/briscoephotography

or see me on twitter: www.twitter.com/briscoe_photo

 So, someone tweeted this to me on my Twitter account the other day and it did ruffle me a little bit. I think the author is trying to distinguish between facebook and Twitter as tools but the idea that you should discard the use of facebook altogether is a fallacy.

Facebook provides a physical base in the somewhat extra-physical world of the internet and allows me to communicate in a very personal way with possible customers. Something twitter does not do directly. Twitter is a good sales tool because you project information on to people. This isn't on a one to one basis like what I get out of Facebook.

I care about my customers and try to make my service bend to their needs as much as possible. I'd rather interact with them on a one to one level rather than bombard hundreds with a very generic offer of sale. I know there is more to both as businesses tools but I wanted to make this paragraph as narrow minded as this guys entire article. Sorry, I didn't mean to rant that far. That part of this post was only meant for one or two lines... now to what I was going to talk about. It can be a little strange being 25 year old, single, wedding photographer. Out of the 100 or so weddings I've photographed I can state that the majority involve couples who are older than me or of similar age. They're rarely younger.

But I'm currently at the stage in my life where old school friends are settling down and beginning their lives with someone new....and I'm not (but that's an entirely different story :). I moved away from my home town some 7 years ago - many others do as well, I'm sure. This meant I had less or lost contact with many people from my past and, like most people, it takes some sort of event to being everyone back together.

 

Being at the age I am, a lot of these are weddings. In the past 2 years or so I've been hired by some old friends to cover their weddings. Some of them I knew very well at school, some not so much, but with all of them I've hung around with on the playing fields or in last period maths.

   

 Each one has been a dream to shoot - coupled with a spicy nostalgia kicker. It's amazing meeting up with these old friends and, of course, many of the guests who I also know. It's distracting, but it's great to share our experiences and see how everyone has developed from when we were young.
 

I wonder how often this happened to wedding photographers in the past. Especially one's who moved away from their origins. How often were they tracked down by friends of friends to shoot their old school buddies? This is why the Facebook article ruffled me a bit. I'm almost certain that without Facebook NONE of these couples would have gotten in touch. Facebook has become this beautiful tool for keeping in touch and all of the old school friends contacted me through a Facebook message to book their wedding. I'm so pleased they did because it opened me up to an experience 'old time' photographers might not have gained. I've managed to keep track of good friends I once had who grew apart for whatever reason.

 

I don't believe Facebook is this tool that keeps people who shouldn't keep in touch talking. It unites us globally with so many people who previously influenced our lives and allows us to give back what we can to them through our experiences and our developments. I hope that what my development, as a wedding photographer, has given them memories to cherish and their experiences and advice has enriched my life and made me feel quite humble. I don't think twitter would have done this.

 

When I read prime lens reviews they tend to say the same thing: Extremely sharp, great contrast, excellent flare reduction and good background separation. These things are all well and good but I always bring myself to the same conclusion... why wouldn't I buy a zoom lens? For years now I've been in the cave. I absolutely love my 24-70. It isn't as smooth these days. I've dropped it so many times it makes a squeaking sound whenever I turn the zoom slider and it doesn't connect to the camera as well as it once did. I love staring at the puppetry of the zoom, being able to quickly change my frame with my hands rather than my body. The speed is helpful to me as a wedding photographer. I don't carry my bag around with me at a wedding so my lenses aren't always to hand. This means my detail images are taken with the same lens as my people shots, which, as I've been told for so long, isn't necessarily the best thing. So I've stayed in the shackles, staring at the shadows, because I've got a system. I like my system, it's easy and gives me a little bit of extra time throughout the day to do something different. Yesterday I was given an 85mm 1.8. I've noticed these beauty portraits with girls leaning over in summer and have come to the conclusion that in order to create them you need a focal length longer than 70mm and a wide aperture. I've always had a 50mm stuffed away, never used, but all these images seem to be taken with this 85mm so I thought I'd go out and see what all the fuss is about. At first it annoyed the hell out of me. All the moving around. It's a struggle to find a good spot where you can place your subject and fit yourself in with this massive focal length sticking out of you. I also couldn't understand what difference it was going to make to the natural light that my zooms couldn't... a blinding headache. But as I ventured out into the light my eyes began to see the usefulness of these lenses. They deal with light differently. Unlike the zooms the camera finds it easier to pick out the bit where you put the little red square. The light spreads evenly across the lens and the light parts of the frame contrast evenly with the dark unlike the zooms which tend to pick out the light bits and leave the darks black. I've put an example at the bottom. Please bare in mind it's my first shot at this type of photography... I can see the issues but I think they're pp issues... I'm useless with the sharpening tool. My eyes are now open, I can't wait to get my hands on that 35mm everyone keeps talking about. I reckon that will make the distance issue a little easier and still pull in a nice portrait. I'd say I'm out of the cave on this one.

I know it's April, but it's the end of the financial year and a perfect time to reflect on everything that's happened. I've had a busy couple of months since the start of the year and as we're well into wedding season now it's going to stay as busy as this until the next one. Every job is as exciting as the last. I've met a ton of inspiring people from all walks of life, travelled to different countries and done things I wouldn't have imagined doing all those years ago when I started out.